Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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136. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that County Kerry now has a broadband crisis; his views on the huge disadvantage the lack of adequate broadband is causing in Kerry; if urgent action will be taken by him to address the problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4057/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Governemnt has acknowledged the unreliable quality of broadband connectivity in many rural parts of the country including County Kerry. The NBP will deal conclusively with rural connectivity issues so that current and future generations will have a guaranteed access to high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.

The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades in both the fixed and mobile segments of the market. Approximately 1.6 million of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland are expected to have access to commercial high speed broadband services over the next two years. These very significant investments, which include many parts of county Kerry, represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.

On the 24 November last, a public consultation on a national high speed coverage map 2016 was launched. The map can be accessed at . The areas on the map marked Blue will all have access to high speed broadband services of at least 30mbps from the commercial sector by end of 2016. The areas marked Amber will require the intervention of the State.

The map allows all members of the public, be they business or residential, to see whether their premises/home will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. It also provides detailed information on over 50,000 townlands in every county in Ireland, including County Kerry.

It is anticipated that speeds of at least 30Mbps will be also delivered through the Government's intervention and the network will be designed to cater for future increased demand from consumers and business.

In tandem with the mapping consultation, intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy. The strategy will address a range of issues in relation to the intervention including the optimum procurement model, ownership model for the infrastructure, intervention cost and likely market impact.

My Department has engaged external advisors to provide legal, economic, technical and financial advice on the various aspects of the Plan over the next two years. The next steps in this process will see a further public consultation on a detailed intervention strategy in mid-2015. The Intervention Strategy will be notified to the European Commission for State Aid clearance.

Following the public consultation, towards the end of this year a detailed procurement process will be undertaken in order to select preferred bidder or bidders. The Department will design a tender in a way that maximises efficiencies and keeps the cost of the network build as low as possible. It is expected that the physical build of this network will commence from 2016 with services being available incrementally as the network is rolled out.

This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government. It aims to conclusively address current connectivity challenges in Ireland.